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WILMINGTON, Del. (Reuters) – President-elect Joe Biden said Tuesday that he had seen no evidence that a massive cyber attack on the United States was under control and warned that the breach would not go unanswered once he took office on January 20. . .
Biden, the former Democratic vice president, said President Donald Trump must directly blame Russia for the attack, something he has yet to do despite both Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Attorney General William Barr indicting Moscow.
Trump has launched the idea on Twitter that China could be responsible for the piracy wave. Discovered last week, it breached at least half a dozen US government agencies and left thousands of US companies exposed.
“It is a serious risk and it continues,” Biden told reporters in Wilmington, Delaware. “I don’t see evidence that it is under control. I don’t see any. I didn’t hear from any of them. The Department will not even inform us about many things. So I don’t know of anything that suggests it’s under control. “
Biden blamed Trump for stripping the United States of defenses against cyberattacks, saying, “This assault happened while Donald Trump was not watching.”
Responding to the cyber attack is one of the problems Biden faces when he starts working in the Oval Office. After defeating Trump in the November election, he must also fight the coronavirus pandemic and work with Congress to combat the economic damage from the COVID-19 lockdowns.
Biden said Tuesday that his administration will introduce another COVID-19 aid package next year, including a new round of stimulus payments, after Congress approved a $ 892 billion aid package this week.
The next COVID relief bill should address vaccine distribution, unemployment, a moratorium on evictions for people who cannot pay their mortgages and PPE and other supplies for businesses, he said.
HOW TO ANSWER
Biden said his administration will take significant steps to respond to the cyber breach.
The incoming White House chief of staff said Sunday that Biden’s response to the hacking campaign would go beyond sanctions. Ron Klain said that Biden was devising ways to downgrade the ability of foreign actors to participate in cyberattacks against the United States.
Options the Biden administration is considering to punish Moscow for its alleged role include financial sanctions and retaliatory attacks on Russian infrastructure, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The Kremlin denies any role in piracy.
“The question of the damage caused remains to be determined. We have to look very closely at the nature of the violations, how extensive they are and what damage has been done,” Biden said.
As Biden nears his final selections for his cabinet, he will present his choice for U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona at an event in Delaware on Wednesday, his transition team said.
Cardona is a veteran teacher and school administrator, a choice that would align with the promise Biden made during his presidential campaign to appoint a teacher as secretary of education.
Biden has yet to nominate an attorney general or director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
(Reporting by Simon Lewis in Wilmington; Additional reporting by Jarrett Renshaw, Brad Heath, Michael Martina, and Eric Beech; Writing by Alistair Bell; Editing by Colleen Jenkins, Matthew Lewis, and Howard Goller)
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